Sweetie, Darling, Love
by Alix Winchester
Summary: The Doctor and River had a complicated enough story. But what if someone new was thrown into the mix? Enter Katie Spencer. No one is really sure where she began, but they know when she joined the story. Sixteen years old she was sent to stop Melody Pond from killing the Doctor, but when they cross paths they agree to both run away, tracking down the truth. Who really was he?


It was time. Kate Spencer was ready. Or at least, as ready as she could be. Because Melody Pond was out there somewhere, doing god knows what on Earth as she waited for the Doctor to show himself. Waiting for the chance to kill him. But they weren't about to let that happen, they couldn't. Not after all this time. So they took their girl, having raised her on the stories of the Doctor, and told her that it was up to her. It was on her to go out there and track down Melody Pond. It was her job to stop her, whatever it took. Kate Spencer was the be the girl to save the Doctor.

Katie kept this all in mind as she set off on her own. Her main objective; Stop Melody Pond, save the Doctor. She kept this in mind as she tracked her opposition down to one particular small town on the planet. Or more specifically in this moment, the forest on the outskirts of the town. She tread carefully, keeping an eye and an ear out for the one she was looking for.

Katie heard the snap of a branch, making her turn quickly, peering through the dark. It wasn't like she wasn't used to situations like this. Her training had been very thorough. But it had never been real like this before, and she'd thought that a psychopath designed to kill someone like the Doctor would be a little better at stealth. Truth was, she didn't even know much about her. Heck, was she still a girl? Melody Pond was a Time Lord, regeneration was optional. Even if the name sounded feminine, it didn't give much away if she had regenerated since she'd gotten the name. Although Katie knew she wasn't completely human either. But the people who'd raised her had taken her in like actual parents. There were bedtime stories and hugs between the training and studying. They took her in as their own, even if they never lost sight of their main objective. But that begged the question, who would win between a genetically altered psychopath or a not-entirely-human-in-the-first-place trained killer that still knew what it was to be human.

Another snapped branch had Katie wrenched suddenly from her thoughts, realizing this wasn't the best time for reflection and turning again to find the source. The last one she had heard from behind her, so how did she get all the way over there? The answer became clear with the sound of a gun cocking behind her. She hadn't. The second sound was a distraction. She did her best to look from the corner of her eye, not tempted to move much lest the person pull the trigger. She knew said person would have no such aversion.

"Well hello, fancy seeing you here" The woman spoke, voice sounding so very loud in the quiet surroundings.

"Hello, Melody Pond" Katie responded, making sure her voice portrayed an unfazed tone.

"Where'd you get that name?" Melody asked, tone indicating an almost disinterest, but the gun now being pressed into the back of her neck said otherwise.

"From exactly where I got another name" She responded smoothly. Before finishing her sentence and before Melody could ask she had turned and snatched the gun from her hand. In just a a few short seconds Melody lost her gun and Katie now had two. She took a couple steps back so Melody couldn't copy her move before shooting the other woman a smirk. "Doctor" She finished simply.

"Yeah, I need to kill him" Melody shot back. "And I'd like that gun back to do it please, it's my favorite"

"Well I rather like it too" Katie smiled.

"I know who you are you know" Melody said, gauging her reaction. "Katie Spencer"

"You were raised to kill the Doctor" Katie pointed out.

"You were raised to save the Doctor" Melody replied calmly. "So it seems like the people who sent us out here must expect us to kill each other"

"They must"

"How about we screw them over" Melody suggested, grinning suddenly like they were best friends. "We could run away together"

"You'd still try to kill the Doctor"

"'Course"

"I can't let you"

"Why not?" Melody looked genuinely confused. "Haven't you heard the stories? The thing's he'd done. All the creatures and people he's killed. Why do you want to save him?"

"Because you heard those stories wrong" Katie explained, putting her gun away and lowering the other, if only slightly. Because it all made sense now. Why would anyone want to kill the Doctor if they truly knew who he was? They told her the wrong side of the story. "Yes, the Doctor has killed before, but it was with good intentions"

"Good intentions do not make a good person"

"Saving countless people from death time and time again tends to do the trick though" Katie countered. Melody tilted her head, seeming almost intrigued now. "He doesn't like killing, he hates it. It just happens. He saves people and planets and sometimes to do that, you have to stop the person threatening them, at all costs. That's who the Doctor is. He takes the most difficult decisions for himself, because no one else wants to. Likely no one else can handle the responsibility. The killing… it's just a side effect of the saving"

"So I think I'm killing a killer. And you think you're saving a saviour" Melody summarized. Katie nodded shortly. The second gun was held at her side now, as she was beginning to almost trust this Melody. Not enough to get any closer at the moment, or enough to let her guard all the way down, but enough that she didn't need a gun. She wasn't going to kill the girl if it was preventable.

"How about this" Melody started. "We go off together, find the Doctor, and once we've decided who exactly he is, then we can either kill him, or leave him alone" Katie thought about this a moment.

"What if we still disagree?"

"We give each other a five minute head start and get back to trying to kill each other" Melody answered simply. Katie nodded, that seemed reasonable.

"Alright. Deal" She agreed, shaking her hand.

"Honor among psychopaths"

"Seems it is" Katie nodded.

"But I do want that gun back. It really is my favorite"

Katie watched Melody with suspicion a second more before turning the gun in her hand and handing it back. Melody took the gun, placing it away with a short nod of appreciation.

"Now, I've a place in town I've been staying. Want to join me?" She held an arm and after a moment Katie took it in her own. She pulled the communicator, looking between it and the woman beside her. After a moment to think, she dropped it on the ground beside the tree, giving it one hard stop with her foot and shattering it. The two of them walked out of the forest together without another word, off to find the Doctor. Neither really knowing that by the time they found him, neither of them could possibly kill the other. They had both been alone for so long, another person with them, let alone someone just like them, they bonded rather quickly. And that was a bond that could never break.

The Girl Raised to Kill The Doctor, and The Girl Raised to Save The Doctor, best friends to the end of the universe, and actually, they've been


End file.
